The present invention relates to a binding device and method.
As is known, to bind sheets arranged as a pack and stabbed along a outer edge of the pack, binding members are used having a substantially tubular arrangement comprising an elongated edge portion showing a substantially-C shaped transverse section and a plurality of curved tongues integrally realised with the edge portion and mutually spaced one another so as to form a comb-shaped resilient structure.
To arrange the above mentioned binding members on a pack of sheets, binding devices are used (that can be manually operated or of the motorised type) adapted to simultaneously bend all curved resilient tongues, thereby allowing to introduce the tongues inside the holes; such devices subsequently close the tongues that go back to the previous elastically undeformed position, being thereby arranged with their own end portion abutting on an internal surface of the edge portion. A bound fascicle is in such a way obtained wherein each tongue is inserted in a respective pack hole and crosses the same pack, and is arranged with its own end portion abutting on the internal surface of the edge portion thereby realising a stable connection among the sheets.
The binding devices of the above known types show a plurality of drawbacks among which:
the sheets are inserted in the combwise resilient structure arranging in succession small packs of sheets and afterwards closing the comb-shaped resilient structure-such operation must be manually carried out and is rather time consuming; and
the comb-shaped resilient structure must be correctly placed on the binding device in order to allow engagement of every resilient tongue with a respective grip member adapted to be coupled with the same tongue to open the comb-shaped resilient structure.
The product too, i.e. the bound fascicle, realised with such binding devices, shows a series of drawbacks among which:
the elongated edge portion frontally and laterally projects from the fascicle; for such a reason it is often difficult to arrange the fascicle inside a shelf, or approach it to other bound fascicles or envelop the bound fascicle and mail it;
it is not generally possible to put writings and legends by printing the frontispiece of the bound fascicle since this area is formed by the external surface of the edge portion that is curved and is made of plastic material;
the binding device (made of plastic material) must be separated from the pack of sheets when the fascicle must be disposed of, for example incinerated;
binding members of different sizes are necessary to bind fascicles with a different number of sheets and therefore with different thickness.
the binding member (made of plastic materials) can become fragile with time; and
the tongues (made of plastic material) slide in the rectangular sheet holes; such sliding (among parts made or different materials) can damage the hole edges and therefore the integrity of the same sheets.
Object Of the present invention is to achieve a device allowing to bind sheets arranged in a pack which solves the drawbacks of the known devices and with which a bound fascicle can be formed thus solving the known drawbacks of bound fascicles.
These and other features and advantages of the invention will be apparent to those skilled in the art from the following detailed description of preferred non-limiting embodiments, taken together with the drawings, in which: